It's easy to never look at the number.
What each question says about your assessment, with the rules in Texas, California and Florida.
Assessments change. Homes change. The sales your county compares you to change. Checking it is free and doesn't change anything with your county.
Did your notice go up?
In Texas, the appraisal district generally has to send you a notice of appraised value when your value is higher than the year before.1 That letter starts a clock: the usual protest deadline is May 15, or 30 days after the district mails the notice if that is later.2
A cap limits how fast the number can climb, not what your home is worth. In Texas, a homestead's appraised value generally can't rise more than 10% a year, and the district still records its market value.3 Florida's Save Our Homes cap is 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower, and an assessed value above just value must be lowered to just value.4
When did you buy?
A purchase can reset the starting point. In California, the assessor sets a new base year value when you buy.5 In Florida, a homestead is generally assessed at just value as of January 1 of the year after a change of ownership, and the yearly cap applies from there.4 In Texas, the 10% homestead cap takes effect the tax year after you first qualify the home for a homestead exemption.3
Have you challenged it before?
Each year is its own question. In Texas, an appraisal review board's decision is binding only for the tax year in question.2 In California, an application must be filed for each year you disagree with the assessor's value, and a decline-in-value appeal doesn't carry forward.5
What an appeal board looks at
An opinion isn't evidence. The Texas Comptroller puts it plainly: “You cannot go to the hearing and just say the appraisal district is wrong.”2 Guidance in both Texas and California points the same way: to how your home compares with similar homes.
“In most residential appeals, the most reliable type of evidence to support your opinion of ‘fair market value’ is the sale of properties similar to yours.”
In Texas, when you protest your home's value or unequal appraisal, the appraisal district generally carries the burden of establishing the value at the hearing.6 On an unequal-appraisal protest, the owner wins unless the district shows one of three things, such as that your value is at or below the median appraised value of a reasonable number of comparable properties, appropriately adjusted.6
Comparing your assessment with similar homes nearby is what the free savings estimate does.
See your free savings estimateIn Texas, check the registration
In Texas, a person generally may not perform property tax consulting services for compensation without a certificate of registration, and those services include representing an owner in a protest.7 Registration is with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), which offers a search of licensees by license type.8 Ask any service who would represent you, and check the name.
